US-backed 'internet in a suitcase' could aid dissidents

The US government wants to keep dissidents around the world online by providing them with alternative internet and mobile phone connections that stay running even after oppressive regimes have shut down public communication services. It is pouring millions of dollars into projects such as the "internet in a suitcase", a Wi-Fi enabled box which could be smuggled over a border to set up wireless communications, reports the New York Times.

"We see more and more people around the globe using the internet, mobile
phones and other technologies to make their voices heard as they
protest against injustice and seek to realise their aspirations," said
secretary of state Hilary Clinton. "So we're focused on helping them do
that, on helping them talk to each
other, to their communities, to their governments and to the world."

This kind of US support for online activities overseas contrasts with the country's approach to the domestic internet, where politicians hope to crack down on file-sharing by giving the US Department of Justice the power to block non-US websites. The US commitment to an open internet was also called into question last year over WikiLeaks, leading some activists to seek an alternative internet, one that runs using peer-to-peer systems.

Forty years ago it was photo copiers and bibles. How things have changed.

m
on June 15, 2011 3:15 AM

groups of drones could carry such equipment, more lethal than missiles in the end...

George Brooke
on June 15, 2011 9:59 AM

This is familiar .. the keyboard is mightier than the sword, or something?

george

Gazza
on June 15, 2011 11:08 AM

What hypocrites. The same control freaks who want an internet kill switch are angry that foreign governments might want to prevent the internet being used for subversion in their own territories? Is anyone sane in the US government?